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User blog:Porterfield/How Many Hours of Olympic Coverage Can You Handle?
Many news outlets are highlighting the ridiculously unprecedented amount of hours of Olympic coverage that NBC Universal will be broadcasting this summer on their vast arsenal of television channels, but I'll get to that later. First I want to address the most epic news about NBCU's upcoming coverage of the London 2012 Olympics, which runs from July 27 - August 12... For the first time ever, NBCOlympics.com will live-stream every event of every sport, totaling 3,500 hours of coverage That's right folks. No more tape-delayed, overly edited nonsense that cuts out all of the suspense and build-up. No more missing the opening round of Kayak Sprint or the grand finale of the 50k Race Walk (yes, walking is a sport). Don't get me wrong, I love the way NBC's slickly-produced back stories get me all teary eyed and proud to be an American, and Bob Costas is a legend, but I'm glad we finally earned the right (from our corporate overlords) to watch every single event live. NBCU has finally come to terms with reality: we want to watch content when and where we so desire, with limited commercial interruption. Realistically, for an Olympic event we actually care about, the "when" is "live" and the "where" is under our bed covers or behind our cubicle walls, on a laptop, iPhone, or iPad. NBC is developing two apps, one for streaming live events, and one for highlight shows. Let's face it, the highly sought-after 18-35 demographic does not watch television in the traditional sense anymore. We stream stuff on our computers. Take this TV Guide quote from Joel McHale (star of the NBC show Community) as an example- "I did a stand-up show at the University of Arizona and there were 30 kids who ran the event. I said, 'How many of you watch Community?' and they all raised their hands, which was great. I asked, 'How many watch it Thursdays at 8pm?' Zero hands. I asked, 'How many of you have TVs?' Four hands. I asked, 'How many of you watch on computers?' All hands went up." Enough said. For those of you who still watch regular television, NBCU will be showing 2,035 hours of the Olympics across 9 channels NBC, NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Telemundo, two specialty channels, and a 3D platform will all broadcast this summer's Olympics for the equivalent of 231 days, beating the 2008 Beijing coverage by almost 2,000 hours. Important Figures: *'272.5 Hours' - broadcasted by NBC over 17 days. Daytime coverage will begin on most weekdays at 10 a.m. ET/PT and at 5 a.m. ET/PT on the weekends and running until midnight. *'56 Hours' - of long-form tennis televised by Bravo from July 28 to Aug. 3. *'292.5 Hours' - of U.S. team sports broadcasted by NBC Sports Network, the home of Team USA, the most ever for an Olympic cable network. *'73 Hours' - of Boxing broadcasted on CNBC, including the debut of women's boxing. Everything from elimination bouts to the men's and women's finals will air over 16 days. *'770 Hours' - of basketball and soccer on specialty channels available to cable, satellite and telco providers. *'155.5 Hours' - of long-form Olympic programming on MSNBC, including up to 18 medal rounds and 20 sports, from badminton to basketball to soccer to wrestling. I'm sure I'm missing something, like the amount of hours the Olympics will be broadcast on a special 3D channel, but you get the point. The London 2012 Olympics will be the most viewer-accessible Olympics of all time, and that's dandy! Poll How will you watch the London 2012 Olympics? Live-streaming on my computer or mobile device. On cable channels whenever I've got free time or a specific event I love is playing. NBC Primetime with Bob Costas, baby! Highlight show at 11 or 12 pm. As much as possible, however I can get it! Not at all. __NOEDITSECTION__ Category:Blog posts